Comment by CactusOnFire | Hacker News Reader

Comment by CactusOnFire | Hacker News Reader

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I agree with your thesis, and I dislike the direction the gaming industry at large is taking.

At the same time, it's hard to see where lines are drawn. The only thing that really separates 'Engagement' from 'grinding' is whether or not you enjoy doing it.

While I take a lot of time in considering what games are worth my time, and have a positive "feedback loop" that will leave me feeling satisfied rather than burnt out, I also have to ask myself what "genuine play" really does mean. We can point out the behavioural strategies devs use for reinforcing more play-time, but outside of the question of perverse incentives like NFT's, paid lootboxes and pay2win microtransactions, a game needs to feel rewarding in order to be played. Some just have this reward cycle more ouvert than others.

It’s definitely a sliding-scale, not a binary. But I still think there’s such thing as enjoyment that ultimately leaves you unhappy or worse-off emotionally than you were before, even though it’s hard to define when it doesn’t manifest in something concrete like finances.

I personally tend to feel empty and stressed-out when I spend too much time on an artificially dopamine-driven grindfest. Where for contrast, the original Animal Crossing actively relaxed me and improved my outlook.

I agree entirely- and I try to do an "emotional audit" on how I'm feeling while playing a game.

I know exactly what you mean by that dopamine grind sensation, and when I sense that being present (and no joy), I will either uninstall and stop playing the game, or take a step back and reassess my relationship with the game.

Having had more time to think about this, I think one distinguishing factor is to what degree the dopamine is based in superficial signifiers, vs actual accomplishment. Of course not all games have to be about accomplishment at all, but I think the ones that are are more fulfilling when it’s rooted in substance and not just fanfare (noises, animations, numbers going up).

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